Mass-Produced Julian (2)
The hero party surged toward the Demon King’s castle like a literal storm.
It was a speed and level of comfort that couldn’t even be compared to the first and second rounds.
“As expected of the chosen hero.”
“I’ve never seen talent like this before.”
“Is that why he’s a legend?”
The companions, who in the first and second rounds had barely acknowledged him until nearly the middle of the story, now quickly came to accept him.
About four years passed like that.
“Diiiiiie!!”
BOOOOM!
The sword strike, spewing forth mana like a storm, swallowed the Demon King whole.
“Huk… Huff…”
Even on the third try, the battle against the Demon King was still tough.
Julian panted as he shouted.
“We wonnnnn!”
Clank!
The Hero’s Sword glowed, flaunting its victory.
“Waaaaaah! Julian! Julian!”
His companions rushed over, sharing in the joy.
Everyone was beaming with smiles.
After struggling for four whole years to achieve it, it was only natural to be happy.
However, among them, only Julian showed no significant change in expression.
While everyone was looking at each other, Julian bit his lip and gazed up at the sky.
‘Damn it. Yeah…’
He knew the predetermined future.
‘They’re all manufactured anyway.’
He had come to think of them as not truly existing beings.
They were merely actors in a story created by Pam.
Just as he himself was.
And now, that story was drawing to a close.
Thud!
The world faded to black.
Crackle—
The End
Puff!
With her back to the letters, Pam appeared.
“Kyarruru! Good job, Julian!”
She looked quite pleased.
It was because of Julian’s growth.
‘To accomplish this in just four years.’
He had become a monster in only his third round.
“Congratulations, Julian. You completed it this time without a single casualty?”
She praised the fact that none of his companions had died.
But Julian no longer paid much attention to his companions.
So he didn’t even ask whether there was an epilogue.
“What’s the score?”
He asked for the score.
“Huh? You don’t care about things like the epilogue anymore? Weren’t you supposed to meet the princess this time?”
The princess character had shown favor toward him for the first time, but Julian no longer cared.
“Just tell me the score.”
He knew exactly what mattered more.
“Well, alright.”
Pam grinned and revealed the score.
Whirrrrr!
The letters spun like a slot machine, then stopped at a certain point.
Ding!
B+
It was B+. Just one step away from A.
Once again, he hadn’t reached ten thousand.
Julian felt some regret but wasn’t greatly shaken.
‘It’s an incredible growth.’
Since he had decided to live as a hero anyway, he just needed to keep doing well.
The important thing was that it had improved.
“Show me the detailed data.”
He could check the numbers and see exactly which parts had been deducted and why.
“Oh my. That’s classified information. What am I supposed to do if you just ask to see it?”
“Don’t joke around. You said you’d train me as a professional hero.”
“Kyarruru! You really are completely different from the first and second rounds, huh?”
Pam snapped her fingers as if pleased.
Snap!
The data for this round poured out.
Julian scrolled through the numbers until his gaze stopped at the final line.
6,790
It was still quite short of ten thousand, but compared to the 1,520 he had received last time, it was an incredible improvement.
‘The direction was right.’
It was correct in the big picture, but he ultimately hadn’t reached ten thousand. He needed to analyze it. Zoom in and dig deep. What was the problem?
“Were there any sections where it suddenly dropped hard?”
“Here, here, and here.”
There were sections where the numbers disappeared in the hundreds, then suddenly thousands dropped.
34,281 → 34,112 → 34,003 → 31,890
For example, it suddenly plummeted from the 34,000 range to 31,000. Similar sections existed in the 20,000s and 10,000s as well.
“What caused it?”
Julian was certain there had to be a reason.
“Hmm…”
Pam stayed silent.
“What caused it?”
“Kyarruru…! I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“From B+ rank onward, we can only make guesses.”
“What are the guesses?”
Pam thought for a moment. Perhaps this was something that even if told, he might not be able to achieve.
“In the industry, it’s guessed to be ‘uniqueness.’”
“Uniqueness?”
“They say that stories that achieve A rank or higher all possess ‘uniqueness.’”
“They say? Haven’t you ever made an A rank?”
When Julian asked due to Pam’s uncertain tone, she jumped.
“W-what are you saying! I’m the ace of our branch, you know? Of course I have!”
“Then why do you say it like that?”
Because in her long career as a story fairy, it had only happened once. And even then, it was barely scraping an A rank.
“It’s embargoed. Embargoed. I can’t tell a professional hero everything, you know?”
To hide her embarrassing career, Pam made up an embargo.
“Anyway. B+ is a remarkable achievement! Julian! Congratulations! As a bonus, I’ll add another hundred million!”
“…Hundred million?!”
Before Julian could say anything, Pam snapped her fingers.
Bang!
* * *
Beep beep~
The sound of a bus horn rang out.
‘Huh, a bus again!’
It had been four years, but due to the vivid memory, Junil was startled and tried to throw his body backward.
“Student. Aren’t you getting on the bus?”
“…Huh?”
Upon closer look, the bus was waiting for him. It wasn’t trying to ram into him like last time.
‘Ah… I’m back.’
Junil looked down at his outfit. He was wearing a soccer uniform.
‘We finished playing soccer with the guys and I was on my way home.’
He could walk, but it was hot so he was going to take the bus.
“Ah, yes I am!”
Whoosh!
Junil boarded the bus at incredible speed. The cool air conditioner wind greeted him.
‘Whew. Modern times are nice.’
He recalled the times fighting in a molten furnace-like dungeon while wearing armor that made him feel like he was going to die from the heat.
‘Back then Meyrin would cast cold magic for me…’
Junil leaned against the bus window and briefly reflected on his first round. It was a time when he was lacking in many ways. Yet for some reason, it remained strongly in his memory.
Was it because it was special?
‘Uniqueness?’
A question that suddenly came to mind. What exactly was this ‘uniqueness’? Pam had said it was the path to getting an A. But unlike the previous coaching, it was too vague.
‘Hmm… Should I look it up?’
He turned on his phone to search.
Vrrr.
Nara Bank
Deposit Notification
400,000,000 won
Thump—
Junil’s heart pounded.
‘Maybe it’s okay not to force getting an A…?’
Humans really are weak to numbers. Seeing such a huge number, Junil’s thoughts changed a bit. Was it because he had returned to being Mun Jun-il instead of Julian? His economic mindset began to kick in.
‘The difference in reward versus effort between B+ and A is practically negligible.’
A was six hundred million. B+ was four hundred million. C+ was one hundred fifty million. When organized, it was like that. There didn’t seem to be much reason to overdo it for an A.
‘It’s a two hundred million difference but…’
He had pretty much internalized the method to reach B+. Was there a need to challenge for A just for this ‘uniqueness’? As far as Junil knew, uniqueness was a double-edged sword. Einstein was a special person. That’s why he was treated like a weirdo when young. Steve Jobs was also a special person. He was called a psychopath throughout his life.
‘I’m far from people like that.’
Junil was just an ordinary person who got good grades, with the only strength he could claim being persistence. In that case, there was only one conclusion.
‘Let’s focus on maintaining B+.’
For now, he’d build up his weight class while consistently getting B+. ‘Let’s reduce coin investments and focus more on the hero side.’ He switched from gambling to stability. He also adjusted his investment portfolio, reducing the coin portion and increasing US bonds and stocks. At first, thinking the seed money was only three hundred million, he had gambled for two billion, but now that it would continue to come in, there was no need. If he parked it in very safe US stocks, the money would grow on its own to reach two billion.
‘If I do this a few more times…’
If he repeated the hero work four or five times while maintaining B+ level skill? The time to complete a B+ story would definitely decrease. First it was ten years, then seven, now four. It would decrease further. Perhaps even to two years. Then, by clearing with B+ very quickly, within about ten years of hero work, he could buy a two-billion-won house without loans.
‘Insane.’
Just imagining it was thrilling. Two billion won. Then if he earned another billion or so and retired from being a hero? He would enjoy perfect financial freedom.
‘I don’t need an A after all.’
It became clear. Now the strategy was to go for fast B+ clears.
* * *
After the third round, Junil’s life was simple. There was no need for part-time jobs during vacation, so all his time was free. He wasn’t preparing for employment, so there was no stress about the future. It felt like he was on vacation. After spending twenty years in the medieval era, occasionally coming back to the modern world for a few months’ vacation.
He put on his newly bought headset and lay down on a bench in the campus park.
‘Is the connection… done like this?’
Even handling a smartphone felt unfamiliar now. To the point that sleeping on the soft bed in his studio felt awkward.
‘Because it rocked so much at night. Man…’
Having spent twenty-one years sleeping on the floor with just some grass or leaves, a bed actually made him feel like it was rocking.
‘This is more comfortable. Damn it.’
Lying on the wooden bench, he gazed at the sunlight filtering through the leaves. It reminded him of the first round. There was a time when he lay on the grass with Meyrin and talked until the stars came out at night.
As he closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the leisure—
“Oh? Oppa. You bought a headset?”
When he slightly opened his eyes, brown hair obstructed his view. Someone was looking down at him.
‘Meyrin?’
It wasn’t Meyrin. It was Suyeon.
“What are you doing here?”
She smiled brightly and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Ah… Just taking a break.”
“Do you know you’ve become really strange lately, oppa?”
Flinch.
Junil was so startled he unconsciously shot up.
‘What the. Crazy.’
Just what was a woman’s intuition? How did she know?
“Why did you suddenly get up?”
“Ah, my back just hurt.”
“No way. Suddenly?”
Pfft.
Suyeon laughed, looking delighted.
“You, why are you here? It’s vacation.”
“Me? I came to the library, of course.”
Ah. That’s right. Suyeon was the diligent type with grades and job prep and all that.
‘I used to be like that too.’
Come to think of it, Junil had been that kind of person. That’s why their paths overlapped a lot and they became close.
‘It makes sense that she says I’ve become strange.’
From Suyeon’s perspective, Junil who had suddenly become a slacker must seem ridiculous.
“Ah, oppa if you haven’t eaten lunch yet…”
Vrrr.
Suddenly Junil’s phone rang.
“Huh?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Go ahead and take that.”
Vrrr. Vrrr.
The phone kept ringing.
“It’s not a call.”
“?”
It wasn’t a call.
Jeez.
Junil was dumbfounded and turned off the phone notifications.
‘They told me to be the goalkeeper before.’
Junil had suddenly become too much of an insider. He stood up abruptly from the bench. He needed to act like before. Let’s eat with Suyeon.
“Want to get food?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“Let’s go. I’ll buy.”
“Really?”
Of course. With eight hundred million in his account. Would he mooch off a junior?
* * *
Junil headed to his regular restaurant. In the past, he could only go once a week at most. Now he went every day.
“Auntie. Here…”
“Pork stir-fry set with extra rice, right?”
“Yes.”
The usual. The order went in automatically.
“Wow…”
Suyeon looked at him as if fascinated, then ordered the same pork stir-fry set.
A short while later.
“……?”
Suyeon’s eyes became like she was watching a documentary on eccentrics.
Chompchompchompchomp!
“Uh, oppa… I don’t usually say this, but won’t you get indigestion?”
Junil was finishing a whole bowl in almost thirty seconds.
“Hmm?”
Junil tilted his head while chewing the meat. He thought he was eating quite leisurely.
“You’re not eating this?”
“No, I will eat it. I just ‘haven’t’ eaten it yet. You took the side dishes earlier too.”
“Ah. Did I?”
Whoosh!
Junil quickly snatched another side dish.
“Ack! Why are you taking it!”
“Because you’re not eating it.”
In the medieval era, if you didn’t eat first, it would be taken. Having lived like that for over twenty years, his eating was incomparably combative compared to modern people. It seemed no one could stop his meal.
However—
Cracklecracklecrackle!
‘Huh?’
There was a moment when Junil was the only one who stopped his meal.
‘What is this.’
The moment letters appeared in the air.
‘Why is this appearing here?’